We continue to forge relationships with like-minded education non-profits that either extend our mission and/or help us enhance the services that we provide to our students.

Book Roots (www.facebook.com/bookroots) Founded by Nicole Adkins and Elizabeth Dragga, Bookroots empowers underserved youth to build personal resiliency and become self-motivated learners through literature and arts-based enrichment programming. Nicole and Elizabeth have developed a 2 -week playwriting /performance workshop and a SLAM writing workshop that they facilitate for our students during the summer. The workshops culminate in the students performing their original writing pieces. It is a transformational experience for our students as they bond as a group, overcome their fear of performing and create original work.

College Match (www.collegematchla.org) Founded by Harley Frankel, College Match identifies low-income high school sophomores with strong academic records and provides each of them (on an individualized basis) with an intensive array of services comparable to what affluent students receive at elite private schools. These students and their families are receiving the counseling and support to make them competitive in the college application process. College Match offers an invaluable opportunity to a few of our qualified students.

The Posse Foundation (www.possefoundation.org) identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Posse’s college and university partners award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships. We are proud to be a Posse Nominator for our students.

SoCalCAN (www.socalcollegeaccess.org) The mission of SoCal CAN is to cultivate and strengthen a network of professionals, programs, organizations, and institutions that, together, will increase the number of low-income students who access and complete a post-secondary education. Determined To Succeed is honored to be a member of this extensive group. It has given us unprecedented access to local non-profits whose mission, like ours, is to provide the resources for low-income students to go to college.

TEAM PRIME TIME (www.teamprimetime.org) Executive Director Peter Straus created TEAM PRIME TIME (TPT) in response to the critical need for after- school programming at LAUSD Middle Schools for at–risk children from low– income areas. The program combines academics, athletics, leadership training and the arts. Palms Middle School, the home of our middle school students is partnered with TEAM PRIME TIME. We encourage our students to participate in the TPT program in conjunction with our Monday & Wednesday afterschool sessions.

United in Harmony (www.unitedinharmony.org/fly.aspx) United in Harmony provides a variety of enriching programs to children ages 7-13 years old from over 12 shelters in Los Angeles County. Camp Harmony is the cornerstone of the charity, providing an overnight camp experience in the summer and winter for the children. DTS students volunteer as Counselors at the camps and also in their year-round Leadership program.

UniCamp (www.unicamp.org) We are very excited that our high school students will be attending these phenomenal camps this summer. It is an overnight camp created to give low-income kids the camping experience of a lifetime in the mountains near Big Bear. The counselors are either current UCLA students or graduates trained to work with these kids. For most of our students, this will be the first time they are sleeping away from home!

In addition, we continue to seek relationships with companies that believe in our mission and our students and are eager to provide their valuable services to our students on a pro-bono basis.

Loyola Mary­mount University (graduate.lmu.edu) Dr. Brian Leung is the Chair of the Department of Educational Support Services and Director of the School Psychology Program. Dr. Leung and several of his Graduate students have collaborated with us in several ways – one of which was to develop a CA standards-based Writing Curriculum for our middle school students. The writing curriculum is incorporated into our weekend writing workshops. Dr. Leung also turned his students loose in his grant-writing class to focus on a DTS project related grants list!

MATHNASIUM (www.mathnasium.com/santamonica) As a teacher-trainer and consultant in public and top private schools, and father to a mathematically gifted son, Larry Martinek possessed an incredibly comprehensive view of education. The hallmark of the Mathnasium program he created has been the way it engages kids and gets them to know math at a level far beyond adult expectations. Larry and his Mathnasium co-founders, David Ullendorf and Peter Markovitz along with Santa Monica franchisee owner Reha Modi have helped us incorporate their curriculum into our after-school and summer sessions. Their ongoing support is a crucial component to bolstering our student’s foundation and capabilities in math.

Revolution Prep (www.revolutionprep.com) is a leading test prep company based in Los Angeles whose co-founder, Jake Neuberg, has taken Determined to Succeed under his wing. Revolution Prep’s SAT/ACT prep and subject tutoring was an enormous factor in successfully preparing our high school students to graduate and gain admission to college. Comprehensive college test prep is crucial for providing the tools that our students need to navigate these rigorous tests.

Team Tutors (www.teamtutors.com) provides our students with one-on-one tutoring. The tutors have been extremely effective tutoring our high school students in their honors and AP classes. Founder Nathalie Kunin and her partner Carrie Lieberman have been incredibly generous by providing our students with their first-rate tutors.